Susan Strom
EF5
I'll pass on El Paso
Towns/services I like (Plains):
Garden City, KS - nice town, places to stay and several restaurants. Open spaces all around.
Liberal, KS - nice and familiar town, I always seem to be going through there. Dorothy's House is there too, which is a kick!
Wichita Falls, TX - nice town, good inns
Woodward, OK - nice people. I liked the Northwest Inn. The area is very well situated for chasing.
Colby, KS - ok inns, nice travel plaza (the one near the fake palm trees, which always make me laugh)
Aurora, CO - plenty of services when the forecast calls for Colorado.
Boulder, CO - If you end up there and CO doesn't play out...stop by and visit NCAR instead!
Lubbock, TX - The Super 8 is one of the better ones, right on the highway. Well situated town for W TX chasing.
Henryetta, OK - Actually, my experience there was ok. I usually avoid non-chain motels but there was a spotless motel there run by a nice couple.
Tucumcari - NM - doesn't bother me. I found an inn there where I could back my suv up to the door (I like that when I'm by myself, easy to load, etc.).
Sidney, NE - Good services, and I love that ice cold Ogallala Aquifer water that comes from the faucets.
Des Moines, IA - There's a Fairfield Inn west of town (favorite chain). I also like the Bridges of Madison County, very photogenic in Winterset, right nearby. Actually, I'm impressed with Iowa, as a state. I also bought an antique lightning rod in Walnut, IA, which is such a cool little town.
Taos, NM - I'll make an excuse to go there on my way back to Arizona. Love that town, interesting people, nice places to stay, Taos Pueblo, Sangre de Cristo range.
I'll pass on:
El Paso, TX - that industrial border town is just plain creepy and dangerous. I used to be an I-10'er but now I take I-40.
Midland, TX - Feels like a ghost town of a sort, an oil-boom-in-the-80s town. One late night I passed up a Motel 6 after a long day's drive from Arizona. The motels looked pretty run down. I coffeed up and stayed in Lubbock. Not a big Permian Basin fan in general, good services are hard to find.
Wichita, KS - Kellogg Avenue in the month of May is a confusing mass of usually booked motels due to spring soccer, softball and every other tournament in the midwest. Usually I'm able to get some kind of chain-motel room if I call ahead, but one night I braved a non-chain motel at 2am after driving down from Kansas City in really bad weather, desperate for a place to sleep. The only motel available was so bad I slept in my clothes, boots and all, knife in my pocket. The lock on my door didn't work well either. I might have been safer in my car, but the weather was crazy, zero vis at times, and I was "travel tired", you know that feeling? I avoid Wichita when I can, since I know that rooms are hard to find in the Spring. At least they have a Starbucks and the barista was really nice, and from Phoenix.
Kansas City, MO - Not a big fan, it is hilly and trafficky. I stay out of KCMO when I can.
Santa Fe, NM - I used to be a huge Santa Fe fan. There is so much sprawl, traffic and road construction now I avoid it altogether when I'm just passing through. If you want to shop or stay anywhere near the Paseo de Peralta...best to stay in town a couple days and see the sights on foot!
Pueblo, CO - Has a way creepy vibe, kind of industrial. Perhaps the IRS office? LOL
Fort Smith, AR - I should KNOW not to break my rule and chase in that east-of-I35 hill country, but I was enticed by a storm that looked too good to pass up. Good lord! I arrived one late night during "cruise night on main street"! Need I say more? Generally, Fort Smith is way too hilly and full of trees for chasing.
Towns/services I like (Plains):
Garden City, KS - nice town, places to stay and several restaurants. Open spaces all around.
Liberal, KS - nice and familiar town, I always seem to be going through there. Dorothy's House is there too, which is a kick!
Wichita Falls, TX - nice town, good inns
Woodward, OK - nice people. I liked the Northwest Inn. The area is very well situated for chasing.
Colby, KS - ok inns, nice travel plaza (the one near the fake palm trees, which always make me laugh)
Aurora, CO - plenty of services when the forecast calls for Colorado.
Boulder, CO - If you end up there and CO doesn't play out...stop by and visit NCAR instead!
Lubbock, TX - The Super 8 is one of the better ones, right on the highway. Well situated town for W TX chasing.
Henryetta, OK - Actually, my experience there was ok. I usually avoid non-chain motels but there was a spotless motel there run by a nice couple.
Tucumcari - NM - doesn't bother me. I found an inn there where I could back my suv up to the door (I like that when I'm by myself, easy to load, etc.).
Sidney, NE - Good services, and I love that ice cold Ogallala Aquifer water that comes from the faucets.
Des Moines, IA - There's a Fairfield Inn west of town (favorite chain). I also like the Bridges of Madison County, very photogenic in Winterset, right nearby. Actually, I'm impressed with Iowa, as a state. I also bought an antique lightning rod in Walnut, IA, which is such a cool little town.
Taos, NM - I'll make an excuse to go there on my way back to Arizona. Love that town, interesting people, nice places to stay, Taos Pueblo, Sangre de Cristo range.
I'll pass on:
El Paso, TX - that industrial border town is just plain creepy and dangerous. I used to be an I-10'er but now I take I-40.
Midland, TX - Feels like a ghost town of a sort, an oil-boom-in-the-80s town. One late night I passed up a Motel 6 after a long day's drive from Arizona. The motels looked pretty run down. I coffeed up and stayed in Lubbock. Not a big Permian Basin fan in general, good services are hard to find.
Wichita, KS - Kellogg Avenue in the month of May is a confusing mass of usually booked motels due to spring soccer, softball and every other tournament in the midwest. Usually I'm able to get some kind of chain-motel room if I call ahead, but one night I braved a non-chain motel at 2am after driving down from Kansas City in really bad weather, desperate for a place to sleep. The only motel available was so bad I slept in my clothes, boots and all, knife in my pocket. The lock on my door didn't work well either. I might have been safer in my car, but the weather was crazy, zero vis at times, and I was "travel tired", you know that feeling? I avoid Wichita when I can, since I know that rooms are hard to find in the Spring. At least they have a Starbucks and the barista was really nice, and from Phoenix.
Kansas City, MO - Not a big fan, it is hilly and trafficky. I stay out of KCMO when I can.
Santa Fe, NM - I used to be a huge Santa Fe fan. There is so much sprawl, traffic and road construction now I avoid it altogether when I'm just passing through. If you want to shop or stay anywhere near the Paseo de Peralta...best to stay in town a couple days and see the sights on foot!
Pueblo, CO - Has a way creepy vibe, kind of industrial. Perhaps the IRS office? LOL
Fort Smith, AR - I should KNOW not to break my rule and chase in that east-of-I35 hill country, but I was enticed by a storm that looked too good to pass up. Good lord! I arrived one late night during "cruise night on main street"! Need I say more? Generally, Fort Smith is way too hilly and full of trees for chasing.
